Greater New Orleans

New Orleans drum circle serves as form of therapy

Thunderous booms, rapid-fire smacks and the patter of tiny fingers on
canvas filled Fortier Park on a recent Thursday, as the Rising Sun
community drumming group convened to find its weekly groove.

Angie
Bachemin leads a drum circle at Alcee Fortier Park.
Both children and adults gather for this weekly event.

Participants,
who usually number about a dozen, sat in a circle and hammered away at
djembes and congas under the guidance of professional drum instructors
Angelamia Bachemin and Gingerbread Tanner.

Bachemin began the drum circle
by leading attendees through a lesson in “drum vocabulary,” teaching
them a handful of drum licks and rolls, after which each drummer was
given the opportunity to strut their stuff with a solo.

“I want everyone to close their
eyes and imagine the prettiest waterfall that you’ve ever seen,” she
urged, to a drum group that included adults, children, novices and
experts.

The drum circle meets in
Fortier Park, at Esplanade Avenue and Mystery Street, every Thursday at 6
p.m., weather permitting. It’s free and open to anyone who wants to
take part. Drums are provided, or participants can bring their own.

Bachemin, who plays vibrophone,
guitar and hand percussion in addition to drums, is a former professor
at Berklee College of Music in Boston. She directs the New Orleans Jazz
Hip-Hop Orchestra and plays in the Soulkestra and LaCoste bands.

“People love the Fortier drum
circle,” Bachemin said, noting parents often bring their children. “This
gives you something where you can sit with your kids, you can enjoy
playing music with your kids.”

The drum circle is put on
weekly by Project Rising Sun, a nonprofit founded by Tulane University
psychiatrist Jan Johnson and her sister, Diane, an international relief
and development expert, after Hurricane Katrina to build community
relationships and help residents deal with stress through drumming.

Jan Johnson, who had used
drumming therapy as a psychiatrist, is a firm believer that drumming has
numerous psychological health benefits, which humans have been reaping
for centuries.

“If you think about it, drumming is the earliest form of communication. It’s the heartbeat,” she said.

The drum circle has developed a
regular following. “It takes a lot of practice, but I just keep doing
it and figure I’ll learn someday,” said Jerri Young. Young, who lives
close to the park and stumbled onto the drumming by chance, said he
finds the community group to be a great form of relaxation.

In addition to the group at
Fortier Park, the organization also holds therapeutic drum circles for
young people each week at Cafe Reconcile and Covenant House.

According to Bella
Christadoulou, a licensed clinical social worker who facilitates many of
the therapeutic drum circles, the groups touch populations that may not
respond well to traditional types of therapy.

“Many of them have been forced
into therapy in the past and they don’t trust those in authority, so
engaging them is challenging,” she said.

Christadoulou said the drumming
group therapy is successful because it breaks down barriers and places
individuals in a group setting that they find comfortable.

The sessions are facilitated by
a therapist and a professional drum instructor, and participants mix
drumming with talking about emotional hardships they may be enduring.

“Sometimes, things come up that are really heavy,” Christadoulou said.

Christopher Dunn, a regular at the Fortier Park drum circle, said he hopes the program continues.

“It’s a great community-building exercise,” he said. “It’s the kind of thing that brings people together across the city.”